Valve-gear for internal-combustion engines.



K. STEINBBOKER.

VALVE GEAR FOR INTERNAL oomsusmu ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 13, 1912.

1 ,O80,4 95, Patented Dec. 2, 1913.

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"ttrrrrnn ara ra'a fttztftfitht? KARL STEINBECKER, OF CHARLOTTENBURG, GERIYIANY, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

VALVE-GEAR FOR INTERNALCOMBUSTIOI I ENGINES.

To all wimm it may comm-r11:

lie it known that I. hunt b 'riun1111(111111. suhjeet of the King ol Prussia, residing at (harlottenhurg. lleriuany, have inrented eerlain new and uael'ul llltpl'ti\'tllltlli:-t in Valve-(tears tor lnternaHoinhustiou llnnines. ol whieh the following in a speeiliration.

This invention relates to internal tion engines ot the type in whieh a liquid t'mlllltlfilllilt is led into the working r vlir1der tonet her with a eharge of tltlilpl'tnfittl air. the resultinp mixture heiug. ignited by the heat due to the high PUHIPI'PHSlOl! in said eylinder. Valre gear for sueh-engi11es has been heretofore devised in whit-h. upon a hollow shaft pi'm'ided with fixed (111115 for operating: the inlet valves for the eoi'nhustihie, auxiliary rains are provided which are hrought into temporary engagement with the adzniaaion valves for the tUH'IPI'OHHttl air, the shitting ot' the auxiliary rams lnitri etl'eeted by a rod whieh is axially adjustahle in the shaft. l urtlua'niore a rererni11; 1- 11rl'angzmuent for internal t'HtHlHtHtlUll engines to be. started hr roinprewed air has heen proposed .in \Vlllt'll (111115 that are rotatahle in planes perpendirular to 11 hollow .ahal t are actuated 11y wedge 111eu1herso11 a rod whieh is axially adjustable in the shaft. These t'ulh'lllll'tlmls have the disadvantage that the artuation ot the ('tHHS eau he etl'eeted only in an exaetly fixed sequence. so that without eoinhua' ineut of certain rains into opera t'i\'e poaition is llllijfl lfislhltv.

The present invention aims to make it possible to eru1'e a mutual independenee of the individual rains by so eonalrurting and arranging: their aetuating 1111 111111 121 that they will he eapahlo of iongit'udinal n1ore1nent either simultaneously or in any 1le irrd roan hination. a.

By this eonstruet'ion, one power producing menus 111ay he substituted for another, or one direetion of rotation may he (hanged to the other.

In the accompanying drawing. l' ig'ure 1 shows a longitudinal seetion through a starting and reversing (leviee For internal eonr bustion engines of the t we named. having rams Whitli are adjustable in part axially and in part radially; Fig. 5% is a eross seetion on the line A -J t. l ig l r Fig. it ahows';

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application tiled March 13, 1912.

' position.

a. modifieationin whieh th 1111a :11" 111 11 Patented201 11.23,1913..

Serial No. 683.500.

ahle radially only; Fig. -l is another modiliration in \\'l1i('ll the rams are movable ion-- gitutlinally oulvfand Fig. 5 is a eroas section on theline llll. Fig. 4.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and '3, the tuhutar shaft 1 is prorided with the rams :3. 3 for l'm'ward and haelnvard rotation respectirely. This shall ean he slid lengthwise in the journal hearing l and in the sleeve 5 to whirh it is splined; said sleeve being journaled in a anitahle hearing (5, so as to be.

eapahle ol. rotatio11.- By means of a crank. 7 on said sleere n1o\e1nent is hnparted to the shaft from the engine. The (aims :2, 3 are arranged on either side of a eylindrieal portion h ol. the shaft, which forms a neutral or non-operating seetiion on which the pump aetuating rollers t), it) rest when the Inaehine is not running, or when making the tra1nsition from forward to baehward motion. The rollera El. 10 and their attaehed rods operate the pumps 10, of which twohre shown, said pumps towing 1l1e liquid ('OllilHlHhllJlU to the eylinders ot the engine. The axial movement ol the shaft 1 in order to bring either the ra n 2 or the eani 3 into operation is eti'eeted by means o't' a main oseillating or rot-hing lever ll tulerumed at 12. The lower end ol the lever is forked and engages with lateral pivot? $45 on a sleeve 14 mounted on the shaft h tween the eollara 1:1. The lever is tubular and carries a sleeve 1H3 provided with va lateh which (moperates with a notched quadrant l? to lot-l: the lever in three positions tan-responding to the forward and l1flt'l-l\\'t1l'tl running, positions of the. machine and its intermediate or neutral noun-anoin A sprii'lg 15w keeps the lateh re movahly engaged with the notches in the quadrant. "he sleeve 11 can he slid length-- means of 11 tuhalar handle l9 telescoping on the upper pa rt ot' the lever ll. and abutting on the upp r end ol* the sleeve.

At 20, 21 are the two VillW-t-t which control the admission of eonipresaed air to the engine. evlinder for starting. one valve being used for runnin; forward and the other for reversing. To operate the proper valve, two rau- JQ, 23 are mounted in rere shall 1. said eaunrheing eapahle of movein nt transverse to said shaft. Normally, their outer surt'aees lie flush with that of the shalt no that the valves 20, 21 will not be t plltllfll when the shaft is shifted longiin the fact that the snles of actuator 26, as viewed tudiiially. In order tothrust the cams outwardly into operative position, their inner surfaces are made oblique and are engaged by wedge members 24.- on a rod 25 running lengthwise through the shaft 1. From an inspection of Fig. 1 it will be seen that when handle 19. A torsion Spring 28returns the spindle to its normal or initial position after it has been rotated by a twist of the handle. The shape of the actuator is such that the rocking movement of the lever 11 does not affect the rod 25, but a turn of the spindle 27, in any position of the lever, will cause the actuator to give the rod a longitildinal thrust. To state the matter another way the actuator 26 is provided with a curved surface that faces the end of the rod 25, and is in line therewith, Fig. 1, said face being struck from a center located at the intersection of the axis of the pivots 13 and that of the rod 25. From this it follows that rocking movements of the lever 11 will swing the part 26 in the arc of a circle and hence its relation to the end of the rod 25 will be preserved at all times under such movement. ()11 the other hand if the rod 27 is twisted irrespective of the position of the lever, the rod 25 will be given an axial movement. This latter action is due to the in Fig. 2, forms a cam whose center of generation does not coincide with the center upon which the vertical portionis formed as above referred to.

hen the engine is at rest, the shaft l'is held in it neutral position with the cylin drical poi non 8 in the plane of the pump rod rollers 9, 10 and the cams 2-2, 23 on either side of the rollers on the stems of the valves 20, 21; said cams lying flush with the, surface of the shaft. In order to start i the engine, the lever 11 is thrown one way or the other far enough to bring one of the cams 22 or 23 into line with the stems of the valves 20, 21. The handle 19 is then twisted to cause the wedge members 24 to force out these cams and open one of the air valves to admitair to an engine cylinder and start the engine. The length of the cylindrical portion 8 is great enough to per mit this action to occur without bringing either .of the cams 2, 3 into operation, if so desired. When the engine has been started by the compressed air, the shaft 1 may be shifted still farther to cause one of the cams 2, 3 to pump ply of compressed allowing the spring 28 to its normal or initial position and permitting the spring 25- to withdraw the rod 2:) and retract the cams, 22, 23 into the shaft.

If desired, the shaft may be shifted far enough at starting to cause the cams 2, 3 to admit a small charge of combustible with the compressed air. In order to stop the en gine, it is suflicient to return the lever 11 to its central or neutral position. If it is desired to produce a braking effect, the shaft 1 may be shifted in the opposite direction to cause the cam controlling the reversingair valve to come into operative position and admit air to the cylinder.

In the modification shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the main shaft 1 is not longitudinally adjustable- The reversing cams 22, 23 in Fig. 3 are radially movable, the same as in Fig. 1, but they are separately actuated by the rod 29 and the sleeve 30 co-axially mounted and each provided with a wedge member 31 acting upon its respective cam. In Fig. 4 the cams 32, 33 are movable means of the rod 34 and the sleeve 35 respectively, connected with said cams by the transverse pins 36 playingin longitudinal slots'37 in the shaft 1.

In all these devices, the reversing cams are first brought into operative position by the common movement of all the parts, whereupon, by the actuation of one or more of said parts independently the rain or cams corresponding therewith are brought into working position. 'After previous adjustment of the cams, a reversal may be effected by the simultaneous shifting of all the parts. It is evident that the number of the cams is immaterial.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have described the principle of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the bestembodimcnt thereof; but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means. I

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is: 1. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a pump for supplying fuel thereto, a valve for controlling the admisthe shaft and acting independently thereof to put one set of cams into and out of operation.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a hollow shaft having fuel. and starting cams, a casing 1n which the shaftlis supported, a fuel pump supported by the casing and in alinement with the fuel cam, a starting valve also supported by the casing and in alinement with the starting cam, a means extending into the shaft for moving the starting cam into and out of action, and a device for actuating said means.

In an internal :ombustion engine, the combination of a hollow shaft having sets of fuel and starting'cams arranged for forward driving and reversing, a casing for the shaft, a pair of oppositely disposed fuel pumps carried by the casing and registering with the fuel cams, a pair of oppositely disposed valves carried by the casing and registering with the starting cams, a lever for moving the shaft axially to cause one fuel cam or theother to register with the pumps and also to move the corresponding starting cam into register with the valves, a means extending into the shaft and movable 1ongitudinally therein for moving the starting cams into operative relation to the valves, and means for rotating the shaft.

4. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a longitudinally movable and rotatable shaft, a set of normally inactive cams driven by the shaft which are movable radially thereon, a rod in said shaft, wedges in the shaft'for moving the cams radially that are actuated by the rod, valves arranged to cooperate with and be actuated by said cams, a second set of normally active cams mounted on the shaft and rotated thereby, members coo crating with and actuated by said'secon set of cams, a lever for moving the shaft axially to position the first named cams and to move the second set of cams into operative relation to said members, and an actuator for moving the rod in a manner to cause said wedges to move the first named cams into operative relation with the cooperating valves.

5. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a longitudinally movable and rotatable shaft, a set of normally inactive cams driven by the shaft which are movable radially thereon, a rod in said shaft, wedges in the shaft for moving the cams radially that are actuated by the rod, valves arranged to coiiperatc with and be actuated by said cams, a second set of normally active cams mounted on the shaft and rotated thereby, members cooperating with and actuated by said second set of cams, a tubular lever for moving the shaft axially to position the first set of cams and to move the second set of cams into operative relation to said members, and an actuator lo catcd in the lever for moving said wedges in a manner to force said first set of cams into cooperative relation with the valves.

, In Witness whereof, I have hereunto not my hand this 21st day of February, 1912. r KARL STEINBECKER.

Witnesses:

HENRY Hasrsn, WOLDEMAR HAuP'r. 

